Year Here

Who we are

A year to test and build solutions to some of society's toughest problems

Year Here is a platform for professionals who want to build entrepreneurial solutions to entrenched social problems.

Unlike a traditional Master's degree, Year Here is immersive, action-oriented and grounded in the daily experience of those at the frontline of inequality and has no course fee.

Our Fellows test and build creative, robust responses to social problems, supported by industry mentoring and a rigorous social innovation curriculum.

Launched in March 2013, Year Here has run 13 programmes for 231 Fellows who have collectively contributed 160,000 hours innovating at the frontline – in homeless shelters, care leavers' services and pupil referral units – and launched 39 social ventures.

We run two programmes per year, kicking off in February and September.

Our ventures

Our ventures are businesses with a social purpose, attacking thorny social issues from different angles. They’ve been collectively generated reached over 20,000 beneficiaries – from gang members and homeless teens to isolated older people and refugee women.

They include:

• Appt – a healthtech business that uses behavioural economics to help NHS patients manage their chronic health conditions.
• Birdsong - a fashion brand selling clothes handcrafted by women’s groups – from elderly knitters to migrant seamstresses – with a ‘no sweatshops, no photoshop’ ethos
• Fat Macy’s - a catering company that trains homeless Londoners to run supper clubs, with profits going into a savings scheme helping them raise a deposit for their first flat

They’ve been backed by Nesta, Ashoka, UnLtd, Bethnal Green Ventures, the Big Lottery Fund and the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation – as well as being recognised with Housing Excellence Awards, Stephen Lloyd Awards, Tech for Good Awards, WeWork Creator Awards and Forbes 30 Under 30.

They’ve received national coverage in The Guardian, Huffington Post, Independent, Daily Mail, Financial Times, Vice and BBC News among others.

Year Here is a social enterprise; meaning we exist to bring about positive change in society rather than maximise shareholder profits.